


Discovery

by Ghostly_Crystals



Series: Burn [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Author has no clue how to tag, F/F, F/M, First work - Freeform, Sokka and Zuko got together after the end of season three, Song Inspired, brief mention of child abuse, written at 3AM
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:28:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26078722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghostly_Crystals/pseuds/Ghostly_Crystals
Summary: Sokka made some bad life choices, and Zuko is the last to find out.Author doesn’t know how to write summaries.
Relationships: Jee & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Burn [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1893265
Comments: 19
Kudos: 96





	Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize in advance for how bad this is. It’s an idea I had for awhile but I decided to execute it at three in the morning :,)

Zuko had been having a good day. 

The reviews for the winter solstice had come in and everyone had fun. The Administer of Education had finally agreed to reform the education system. His meeting with Earth kingdom officials had ended without a screaming match. The final highlight of his day was visiting Azula, who was making strides in her progress. They had discussed many things, and even went to a play together. 

Now, Zuko sat at his desk signing off on paperwork and writing letters. His hair down past his shoulders instead of in its usual topknot. Behind him, the fireplace blazed steadily. The smell of burning wood filled the room. Beside the fireplace former Lieutenant Jee stood on guard. The evening had been quiet, and comfortable. He had just finished signing his name at the bottom of a letter when a servant, Lu, walked into the room carrying an envelope. 

“Firelord Zuko, a letter from Sokka has been delivered to every noble. Including you, sir.” Zuko felt curiosity and worry stab at his skin as he took the envelope. Maybe it would just be a thank you from the Southern Watertribe for hosting the winter solstice celebration. “Thank yo-“ before Zuko could finish his thanks, the servant cut him off. 

“Lord Zuko... you aren’t going to like it.” Lu quickly bowed and turned back out the door. Their ebony hair flowing with each movement. Zuko looked at Jee, who had an eyebrow raised. Zuko adjusts his glasses, rubbing his thumb over the seal on the envelope. He and Sokka had made it together, after their wedding. The seal had one half of a flame, the other half a water drop. It now stamped every document sent out from the Fire Lord or the Watertribe Ambassador. 

“It can’t be too bad right?” Zuko asked, more to himself. Despite this, Jee responded anyway. “Surely not, sir.” With slightly shaking hands, Zuko broke the red wax seal with his thumb, careful to not let any drop in the ink pad. Once the seal was broken, he pulled a thick piece of paper- no multiple pieces of paper out of the envelope. It seemed to be a booklet of some sort, a pamphlet. Quickly, he unfolded them and began reading. 

His good eye widened the further he got in the pamphlet. There was paragraphs upon paragraphs of Sokka defending himself from accusations. Accusations of stealing from the royal treasurey, accusations that were proved false by letters between him and his mistress. Zuko felt his heart drop, and tears building in his eye. For some reason, he kept reading. He kept reading about all the lies and with each word he could feel his heart cracking. 

He just kept cracking as he read what they did together. The lump in his throat only grew as he wondered how many times Sokka came home after being with this girl. How many times he came home and lied. As he got to the last letters exchanged between the two, he got lost in a hurricane of emotions as Sokkka detailed what the two would be doing in a few nights. 

Just when he thought it couldn’t be any worse, just when he thought his heart was safe, he reached the end of the last letter. ‘I love you.’ Finally at the end, he let all of it go. A choked sobbed tore its way out of his throat as he slammed the pamphlet onto the desk, and Jee looked over at him, with something written on his face. Was it worry? Pity? Zuko couldn’t tell through the tears rolling down his face. 

The paper crinkled in his hands as he took a deep breath before sobbing once more. Why did it hurt so much? This was the worst pain he had felt, even worse than the branding on his face. Worse than the starburst scar on his stomach. It felt like someone was pulling his heart apart and stitching it back together at the same time. He placed his elbows on the table and laid his head in his hands. His nails dug into his skin as the sobs tore through him. If he started bleeding, he couldn’t tell. To an outsider, the crescent markings tore through skin allowing a few drops of scarlet to mix with tears. 

Suddenly, hands were gripping his arms, trying to pry his nails away from skin. “Get off of me!” Zuko yelled through tears, his voice hoarse. He struggled against the hands, lost in his hysteria. Sobs still wracked their way through him. His voice sounded foreign to him as he continued yelling for the hands to get away. His elbows kept making contact with steel, only worsening his hysteria. Somehow, Zuko and his attacker made it to the floor. Zuko’s knees rested on the tile as his upper half was still wildly thrashing. 

Finally, the bigger person grabbed both of his arms. “Don’t touch me!” Zuko had yelled, still not sure who exactly he was yelling at. _A prince wasn’t supposed to yell-_

____

Instead of a blow at his disrespect, the arms pulled him into an embrace. The arms settled themselves around his torso while his head was tucked under someone’s chin. Zuko’s arms were between him and the person. Immediately the persons smell attacked his nose. Sea salt, coal, ink. Creaking armor, stupid sideburns, and boots that echoed no matter what floor he was walking on. Jee. 

____

Zuko felt the fight drain out of him as he leaned into the lieutenants touch. The pain wracked through him, tears no doubt soaking to the lieutenant’s undershirt. Faintly, he was aware of someone coming into the room and the sound of creaking before the person left. A hand patted his back, which only made the sobs worsen. Zuko brought a hand to his neck, rubbing at where the betrothal necklace hid under his robes. The motion only made the tears pick up their pace.

____

It could’ve been minutes, or hours that they spent on the floor. An old lieutenant hugging a child- his child. Attempting to sheild someone who has already seen the cruelty of the world, from even more pain. Eventually, Zuko pulled away from the warm embrace and looked up at Jee with red rimmed eyes. The Firelord reached to his nearby desk, grabbed the letters, and shakily handed them to Jee. The lieutenant held the papers in his hands, watching and the Firelord brought his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs. Zuko planted his chin on his knees, watching Jee through tear blurred eyes. 

____

Once he was sure the young Firelord was calm, Jee began reading. He didn’t need to read the whole thing to understand what happened. Anger boiled in his veins, allowing a protective instinct and something dark and ugly to coil in his stomach. He could only imagine the anger that would reveal itself once Zuko got through the sadness and grief. He set the papers back on the desk. 

____

Jee has never been a touchy person, he much preferred blunt coldness to deal with people. But right now, with General Iroh in Ba Sing Se, Jee was all the kid had. So, he removed the bulky chest plate and set it on the floor next to him. His knees ached for him to stand up, but his Firelord needed him. He spread his arms, offering if Zuko needed it. And against every instinct Jee knew he had, Zuko threw himself into the embrace again. This time, Jee was glad the sobs and wailing had died down. It had sounded horrible. If you listened close enough, Jee was sure you could hear the kid’s heart breaking. 

____

This time, the tears were still flowing. This time, Zuko hugged back. Jee somehow managed to get them to sit down without making anything awkward and still keeping things comforting. Jee sat with his legs folded criss cross while Zuko’s legs were on top of each other, tucked under Jee’s left knee. Slowly, Jee began rocking them. Just like the waves on the Wani. 

____

For a few moments, there was silence only broken by the occasional sniffle. “Why would he do that?” Zuko asked, his voice muffled. Five years ago, Zuko’s voice would’ve been angry, yelling about one thing or another. Now, his voice sounded broken and quiet. 

____

“I don’t know, sir.” Jee shook his head softly, knowing he was going into dangerous territory. Trying to get him to stop crying was easy, now explaining why his husband cheated on him? That was going to be difficult. “What did I do wrong? Did I not spend enough time with him? I-I loved him so much. What did she have that I didn’t?” 

____

Jee lightly pushed Zuko out of the embrace so he could look at the Firelord. “You didn’t do anything wrong. He made the choice to do this.” Zuko looked up at him with sad eyes and nodded. “...I’m tired,” The young Firelord stated. Zuko stood up, Jee standing up after putting the armor back on. 

____

“I’ll escort you back to your chambers,” Jee moved to put out the fireplace when a voice broke the silence again. “Can I sleep in the guest quarters?” The older man was going to ask why, before it clicked. He didn’t turn to look at his leader. 

____

“Of course, sir.”

____

**Author's Note:**

> Depending on how I feel at the end of the week, I may write another part or rewrite this one. Thanks for reading! 
> 
> \- Ghostly


End file.
